The Philippine-American Educational Foundation (PAEF) hosted a welcome reception for incoming PAEF Board Chairperson, Ms. Carolyn Glassman at the PAEF office last September 25, 2015. In attendance were alumni of the educational exchange programs PAEF administers, members of the PAEF Board and officers from the U.S. Embassy and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

PAEF Executive Director, Dr. Esmeralda Cunanan gave the opening remarks followed by welcome remarks from the presidents of the different alumni associations – the Philippine-Fulbright Scholars Association (FPAAA), Hubert H. Humphrey Alumni Association (Phils.), and the Fulbright Philippine Agriculture Alumni Association (FPAAA), etc. Each representative provided information about their respective organization and current projects. Mr. Michael Klecheski, the Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy introduced Ms. Glassman to the crowd. He shared that Ms. Glassman joined the Foreign Service in 1995 and has been posted to Hungary, Korea, Japan and Washington DC. He further shared that she recently completed an assignment as Senior Public Diplomacy Advisor in the State Department’s Center of Strategic Counterterrorism Communications. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, according to Mr. Klecheski, she was a filmmaker in her hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Fulbright alumnus Dr. Florante Ibarra gave an impressive rendition of two songs.

Ms. Glassman expressed her appreciation for the warm welcome and said she looks forward to participating in some of PAEF’s and the alumni organizations’ activities. She shared that although this is her first visit to the country, she has heard so much about the Philippines and the warmth of the Filipinos from her father who spent three years here when he was in active service in the U.S. Army.

After the program, the crowd stayed to partake of the food served by PAEF and to catch up with fellow alumni. Ms. Glassman stayed on to personally talk to each and every group to know more about what they do.